2017 Strategy Awards: One less box to move

Montreal residents were given boxes to fill with food to lighten their moving load and help the less fortunate.

Silver: Game Changer

Since the 2008 financial crisis, a disturbing number of families rely on food banks. In fact, more than 10% of Quebec’s population currently lives below the poverty line.

These people don’t live on the street: they are hard-working, low-income families suffering from the consequences of a severe economic downturn.

Like most food drives, La grande guignolée des médias (The Media’s Big Food Drive) has traditionally been held during the holiday season, when people tend to be more generous. But poverty doesn’t stop when the snow melts.

In summer 2016, the agency Tam-Tam\TBWA decided to take advantage of a local tradition – Quebec’s July 1 Moving Day – to establish a new tradition for La grande guignolée des médias.

On June 28th, a few days before the moving frenzy, cardboard boxes (similar to moving boxes) were distributed in one of the most densely populated rental areas of Montreal. The organisation asked people to fill the box with non-perishable food items to make their move lighter while helping their less fortunate neighbours.

On June 30th, 30% of the boxes were collected with goods in them. La grande guignolée des médias gave a three-minute interview with one of the beneficiary food aid organizations on Salut, Bonjour!, the most-watched morning TV show in the province.

The stunt helped halt a decline in donations that had been affecting the organization for the past six years, increasing cash donations by more than 30%, reaching $3,179,255 in 2016 (and that’s without counting the thousands of kilos of non-perishables).